Judas Iscariot, the son of Simon (John 6:71), was first mentioned in Matthew 10:4; this was the time Jesus Christ was selecting His 12 disciples for ministry, and he was selected by Jesus to be part of the twelve disciples. When Judas joined the ministry, he was made the treasurer. It appears he was the only one who had a position among the disciples; the others did not have such a privilege.
However, the love of money and Satan’s influence forced Judas Iscariot to betray Jesus Christ for 30 silver pieces. When He saw that Jesus had been condemned to death and the authorities were in the course of crucifying Him, he was ceased with remorse and was driven by guilt, regret, self-judgment, and self-condemnation, he went to tie a rope to a tree and then hanged himself with it.
God is a merciful God, willing and able to forgive any kind of sin so far as the offender genuinely repents of the sin he has committed. But Judas Iscariot did not undergo any godly repentance. Rather, when he saw the outcome of his betrayal that Jesus had been tormented and had been condemned to hang on the cross, he went through remorse, self-judgment, etc. And in that state, he hanged himself. He died without true repentance and so we cannot speak of salvation for him.
Judas’ offense of betraying Jesus was a great apostasy. In fact, after the betrayal, he never had the chance to join the disciples nor follow Jesus again. Upon betraying Jesus, Judas Iscariot removed himself from the family of Jesus’ disciples and from the ministry of Jesus. Whatever good relationship that was between Him and Christ was broken. And since salvation is only found in Christ, you can be sure that Judas Iscariot had lost his salvation.
If Judas Iscariot was to stand before Jesus on the day of Judgement, perhaps, he will say, “Jesus, did I not cast evil spirit in your name, did I not preach in your name, did I not eat with you, did I not follow you, and was I not your treasurer, and did I not believe in you?” And Jesus would tell him what He had said in Matthew 7:23, “….. depart from me, you that work iniquity.” Though Judas Iscariot had once been a disciple of Jesus, iniquity had caused him to fall away.
Jesus once said “But whosoever shall deny me before men, him will I also deny before my Father which is in heaven (Matthew 10:33). Betraying Jesus for money and to His death is a sin more grave than denying Jesus. If those who denied Jesus are damned then how much more damned is Judas Iscariot who betrayed Jesus for money?
Jesus Christ knew long time that He shall be betrayed. Moreover, He knew exactly who would commit this sin of betrayal, which was Judas Iscariot. Before Judas Iscariot betrayed Jesus, Jesus said in his hearing these frightening words against the one who would betray Him:
67 Then said Jesus unto the twelve, Will ye also go away? 68 Then Simon Peter answered him, Lord, to whom shall we go? thou hast the words of eternal life. 69 And we believe and are sure that thou art that Christ, the Son of the living God. 70 Jesus answered them, Have not I chosen you twelve, and one of you is a devil? 71 He spake of Judas Iscariot the son of Simon: for he it was that should betray him, being one of the twelve (John 6:70-71).
21 And as they did eat, he said, Verily I say unto you, that one of you shall betray me. 22 And they were exceeding sorrowful, and began every one of them to say unto him, Lord, is it I? 23 And he answered and said, He that dippeth his hand with me in the dish, the same shall betray me. 24 The Son of man goeth as it is written of him: but woe unto that man by whom the Son of man is betrayed! it had been good for that man if he had not been born. 25 Then Judas, which betrayed him, answered and said, Master, is it I? He said unto him, Thou hast said. (Matthew 26:21-25)
For clarity sake, let me summarize the scriptures above:
- Jesus referred to the one who would betray Him as the devil.
- Jesus also said that it would have been better if that person had not been born.
These utterances are too scary. You could deduce from them that whoever would betray Jesus was damn on this earth and also in the afterlife. This utterance leaves no hope of salvation or help for the betrayer of Jesus. They rather depict that the betrayer has sealed his fate to destruction. Apart from the fact that the sequence of events leading to Judas demise did not include his repentance and his prayer for forgiveness, the very words of Jesus about the betrayer suggested that he has sealed his fate to damnation.